Area code 440 is a North American telephone area code for the state of Ohio, serving parts of the Greater Cleveland area, but not the city of Cleveland or most of its inner suburbs. This area code was established August 16, 1997. Area code 440 was formed by a three-way split of Area code 216, one of the original North American Numbering Plan codes. Area code 330 was created in 1996 from the southern part of 216 and 440 was added the following year to keep up with the increasing number of cellular phones, as well as population factors. Coverage Area code 440 serves most of the southern, western, and eastern suburbs of Cleveland, including the larger cities and communities of Ashtabula, Eastlake, Elyria, Lorain, Mentor, North Olmsted, North Ridgeville, North Royalton, Parma, Solon, Strongsville, Westlake and Willoughby. 440 covers all of Lake and Geauga counties. It serves almost all of Ashtabula and Lorain counties, part of Erie County, the northeast corner of Huron County, and the northwest part of Trumbull County. The largest city it serves is Parma, Ohio. It also covers far eastern Cuyahoga County, the rest of which stayed in 216. The 440 area is just barely contiguous, joined by a small section in the south. Prior to October 2021, area code 440 had telephone numbers assigned for the central office code 988. In 2020, 988 was designated nationwide as a dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which created a conflict for exchanges that permit seven-digit dialing. This area code was therefore scheduled to transition to ten-digit dialing by October 24, 2021. In December 2022, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio announced the available list of telephone numbers in the 440 area code was projected to be exhausted by the third quarter of 2024, and approved a new area code overlay (436) for the 440 coverage area. See also List of Ohio area codes List of NANP area codes References External links List of exchanges from AreaCodeDownload.com, 440 Area Code Telecommunications-related introductions in 1997 440 440 Ashtabula County, Ohio Cuyahoga County, Ohio Erie County, Ohio Geauga County, Ohio Huron County, Ohio Lake County, Ohio Lorain County, Ohio Trumbull County, Ohio